Silver and Gold
by doodlemeow
Summary: Child of Silver, of Truth untold, And child of powerful Gold, Memories shared, no longer impaired, Join to uncover the secrets of old. The shape of a country, and alchemy's bane, A man who wishes to reign. Many immortals and white and black portals, But God does not wish to be tame. "...What! What is that supposed to mean!"
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Liore… These endless uprisings… The Philosopher's Stone… Human Sacrifices… And the outright genocide of the Ishvalan people… Now this means… How could this even happen and who could have orchestrated something as terrible as this? I have to tell the Fuhrer right away…"Hughes looked up in surprise at the slam of the door. 'Damn, I'm not alone anymore, am I?'

"Hello Lt. Colonel. It's nice to meet you. Well, actually, hello's not the word I'm looking for."

Hughes walked down to the phone room after his slightly messy encounter with the busty homunculus. He held his shoulder as he thought about what Major Armstrong, Ed, Al, and him had discussed earlier. 'Ouroboros… Envy and Lust… So the busty woman with the Ouroboros over her chest was Lust. What a fitting name…' The desk lady started to say something, but stopped short at the sight of his blood.

"Lt. Colonel! You're bleeding!" Duh.

"I need a private line." He reached for the phone and picked it up. He had to tell Roy! But, this wasn't the safest place to tell him. "Nevermind. Sorry. Forget I was here." The lady sputtered but fell upon deaf ears.

"B-but sir!"

Hughes ignored her and walked to an out of the way phone booth to call Roy with.

"Eastern Command"

"I need you to connect me to Colonel Mustang right away," Hughes said.

"I'm sorry. I'm not allowed to connect to an outside line," The lady replied.

"You are speaking to Lt. Colonel Hughes and this is a matter of life and death!" He all but barked.

"Your code, please."

By now, Hughes was frustrated, annoyed, and the slightest bit desperate. "What! Are you trying to waste time?" He sighed. "It's uncle, sugar, oliver, then eight, zero, zero."

"Your code was verified. Please wait while I connect you."

"Will you hurry, it's an emergency!" The click of a gun sounded behind him, signifying another presence. 'Damn, again! I need to start paying attention to my surroundings!'

"I need to ask you to put down the receiver. Please, sir." Hughes started to let go of the phone. "Go on, just hang it up."

Hughes turned around to face… 2nd Lt. Ross? No, not her. Then who was she? "You look just like… but you're not. Who the hell are you, lady?"

"I'm 2nd Lt. Ross, sir. You've lost too much blood-"

"Drop the act already. You're not 2nd Lt. Ross, she has a mole under her left eye!" said Hughes, now suspicious.

"Oh," her voice changed. "You're observant. I can't believe I forgot!" 'Ross' smiled maliciously and tapped under her left eye. Red lightning erupted under her fingertips with the sound of rustling cloth and electricity. When it flickered out, a mole was revealed. "There. How do I look now?"

Hughes gasped. "This is not happening! Please tell me I'm hallucinating or something." He spoke as he turned around to face the inside of the phonebox. He had to tell Roy! He had to tell-

"You really are a smart man, Lt. Colonel. Did you think that could be the cause of your death?" 'Crap, I need to think quickly. My life is on the line, I have information that scares the shit out of me, and the thing threatening me is a shapechanger!'

"Hey, have a heart, will ya? I've got a wife and daughter waiting for me. So the last thing I'm gonna do," Hughes flicked a serrated throwing knife out of his sleeve and spun around, ready to throw 'I'm NOT gonna die', "Is die on them!" But the face of his wife smiled gently at him, still holding the cocked gun at him. He stopped. The damned shapechanger had turned into his wife! He knew he was to weak to hit someone that was so dear to him, even if it was only a mask to hide behind.

"You look surprised." 'I'm going to be killed by my wife.'

"What the hell are you?"

A gunshot echoed throughout the compound.

'The pain!' Hughes gasped at the killing pain now located near his heart. Too close. PAIN. It would only let him live a little longer. The long-forgotten phone dangled just out of his reach as Roy's worried voice came through. PAIN. He needed to reach it, all his hopes rided on the phone located just tortuously out of his reach. PAIN! PAIN! PAIN!

"Hughes? Hughes what-"

A partially gloved hand plucked the hanging phone and proceeded to hang up. The shapechanger smiled maliciously again, "You humans don't make any sense to me. You throw away your lives for nothing." He -or she, it was hard to tell in the clothing it was in- left. Through blurry vision, Hughes managed to make out an Ouroboros on the thing's upper thigh. Hughes finally laid eyes on the blood-soaked picture of his family.

"Gracia… I'm so sorry… Elicia… Remember, Daddy loves you." His voice shook. He was about to die. He had failed. Roy didn't know this crucial information. The Elric brothers will blame themselves for his mistake. They always do. His promise to his daughter was now broken. He didn't want to break that promise. Would little Elicia understand?

In the last moments before his death, Hughes heard a young girl's voice.

"Maes Hughes, I will make sure your family hears those words." Her pain-laden voice softly bounced around in his head. "You have lived a great man, and died a better one. Have no regrets, sir." Her voice slowly faded and he closed his eyes one last time, smiling at her gentle words.

**A/N- I hope you enjoyed the prologue of Silver and Gold. Please tell me what you liked and what you think I need to improve on. Constructive criticism, please and thank you! **

**-doodlemeow**


	2. Argentum and Aurum Saxon

**Chapter 1-**

**Argentum and Aurum Saxon**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

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><p><strong>A young girl laid on the cool ground in Xerxes, looking up, but not seeing the midnight sky above her. Her silver hair and eyes glowed slightly in the pale moonlight like an ethereal being. She sighed and closed her eyes as tiny rivulets of tears streamed down her face. "I've seen too much for one my age. Why, Truth? Why do you burden me of all people?" she cried quietly.<strong>

**"****Because you are stronger than most. And…you amuse me, Child of Silver," came the equally quiet reply.**

**The silver child opened her eyes again, acknowledging the reply and fiercely fighting her overwhelming exhaustion simultaneously. After a few minutes though, the girl knew she had lost and finally slept. But, not peacefully. Oh, no. Her sleep was never anywhere near peaceful.**

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><p>"Hello there, Winry!" Ed greeted cheerfully. "You look like you're in a very generous mood today!" he continued. But, the cheerfulness was expertly masking the overwhelming fright that clawed at him. Soon he would be unconscious with a bloody wrench laying next to him. He shivered slightly. He was not going to like this.<p>

"Hi Ed! Hi Al!" laughed. "What are you doing showing up like this?" She exclaimed happily.

Both brothers laughed nervously, pointing at Ed's now busted arm. They both knew how this would end.

Winry looked on uncomprehensively for a moment, but then, what happened dawned on her and her face grew furious. You could nearly see a wrathful god in her place. Ed was seriously considering running for his life right about now. Except… when he was found, he would be in a lot more pain.

After Ed was knocked unconscious by the deadly wrench, Winry started working on his broken automail arm. The steel mechanism gleamed in place of Ed's right arm, the screws shining slightly and the plates hiding the complicated mess of wires nestled within. Then, there was the massive scarring where his shoulder connected with the heavy, metal machine. It was all quite beautiful, if you had the eye of a mechanic.

"Even Paninya is holding an honest job now, and you two can't stay out of trouble?" Winry asked scathingly.

Al tried to steer the conversation away from the trouble the two caused. "Really? She is?"

"Yeah. She's given up her former life as a pickpocket and now she earns her money by fixing roofs and doing other odd jobs around town," Winry replied honestly, forgetting her earlier wrath. Al's armour creaked as he shifted. "And what about you two, huh? Made any progress yet?"

"Yeah, we have. It's slow going though."

Ed got up from his former prone position and stretched. "We're still moving ahead, little by little. I guess," he added, almost as an after thought.

Winry accepted this and nodded. "Good. I'm glad to hear it," she said firmly.

After a small pause, Winry changed the subject. "Alright. I've done all I can for now."

"Thanks Winry," Ed replied.

"I'm missing some parts, so you'll have to make do with a patch job. I'll go get what we need, but, until then, you've got some time to kill."

Ed and Al walked down the street. Ed had magically procured some orange juice before he left Garfiel's.

"Kill some time, huh?" Ed glanced around the street. Automail…Automail…And more damn automail. "Yeah. Now how do we do that in a town made up entirely of automail shops?" Ed then looked back at Al, only to find him missing. Yes. A seven foot tall suit of armour, one with spikes at nearly every joint, a red flamel on his shoulder, and a white ribbon of horse hair trailing down to the small of his back, was missing. Very unique situation. Luckily, he was missing for a mere couple of seconds as the elder Elric spied him at the entrance of an alley, sitting down. "Al?" How did he not hear the armour move?

"Brother?" Al's voice replied.

"What now? Did you find a stray cat or something?" Ed asked as he strolled over to his younger brother, quite used to him finding random cats.

"Uh, well no," Al replied as he showed Ed the figure in his arms. Ed spat out his orange juice that he had been calmly sipping up until now. However, what neither brother noticed was the young, pre-teen girl expertly hidden in the shadows before them. Her eyes sparkled with mirth as she calmly observed the two. They were not much older than her, yet their eyes suggested that they had seen too much. Just like herself.

"So, the Child of Gold and the Child of Silver will finally meet."

Many courses, dishes, bowls, chicken drumsticks, and generally, cens, later, a dark-haired youth spoke to the annoyed and awed alchemist, "Thank you! I feel so much better! You guys are lifesavers! You're treat, right?" By now, a small crowd had gathered to watch the young man stuff endless amounts of food into the black hole that was his stomach.

"I never said I was paying."

"Let's not quibble over something so small," he said.

"WHO YOU CALLIN' SMALL!" Ed screamed.

"How lucky I am to have found hospitality so far from home!" Ling all but cried as he dabbed at his cheek with a panda handkerchief.

"Far from home?" Al asked. "You mean that you're not from around here?"

"That's right," Ling smiled, "I came from Xing."

"Oh, Xing." The brothers contemplated this for a few seconds. "Wait, you mean the country to the east of the desert?"

"Yup, and man was that desert hard to cross, let me tell you," Ling replied.

"Why would you take that route?" Al asked.

"I wanted to visit the ruins of Xerxes," Ling replied, "that route goes by them."

"Xerxes ruins?" Ed asked. "I heard there's next to nothing out there."

"Well that's not quite true." A new voice replied. A young girl stepped out of the shadows behind Ling. She had a unique hair and eye color, silver though she could hardly be over the age of fourteen. A light blue sundress adorned her slim figure, perfectly complementing her paler pigmentation. Her body was lithe, like that of a dancer's, and her pale eyes searched next to Ed, as if looking for someone.

"I thought I heard two other people besides you, Ling. I can only sense one," the girl finally said. This confused both brothers immensely.

"What do you mean?" Al asked curiously.

"I mean that I am blind and therefore cannot see you," the girl said as if it were obvious. Ling sighed.  
>"This is Ariane. I found her in Xerxes when I was passing through. She is blind, and as far as I can tell, she is around thirteen years old."<p>

"You were in Xerxes too?" Al asked.

"Yup, I lived there for about three years before Ling came by." Ed and Al just stared.

"WHAT!?" Ed yelled, surprising the girl. Once she caught her balance, she shrugged.

"Soo, Xerxes. Yeah, um, weren't we talking about Ling earlier? Let's finish that conversation before we start an entirely new one, okay?" Ariane said, melting into the shadows once again. Ling just shook his head.

"Anyway, I was researching Alkahestry in Xerxes when I bumped into Ariane-"

"Alkahestry?" Ed interrupted, causing Al to glare at him.

"It's a different form of alchemy, where one uses the Dragon's Pulse instead of the movement of tectonic plates. Alkahestry also focuses mainly on the medical aspect. I use it as a replacement for my sight, although it's not quite as good," Ariane explained from the shadows. The Elrics were startled for a moment, though they quickly recovered.

"Huh, well in Amestris, we use alchemy mainly for warfare," Ed said.

"That doesn't surprise me, considering your relations with Aerugo, Creta, and Drachma," Ariane replied.

"I must say, this Alkahestry intrigues me," Ed said.

"Mmhhmm," Al agreed.

"Do you two happen to be alchemists?" Ling asked.

"Oh, yeah, we are actually. I'm a state alchemist, Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist," Ed stated somewhat proudly.

"And I'm Alphonse Elric, his younger brother."

"I'm Ling Yao and this is-"

"Ariane Taji, it's a pleasure," interrupted the strange silver girl.

"So, Ling, Ariane, what can you tell us about Alkahestry?" Ed asked.

"To be honest, neither of us is an Alkahestrist, we only use the Dragon's Pulse. Sorry."

Both brothers fell in a dejected manner.

"So why go and research it?" Ed asked, clearly confused.

"Well, I'm looking for something," Ling said. "Maybe you've heard of it." Ling's eyes opened. "The Philosopher's Stone."

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><p>The End.<p>

Just kidding! I like this story! I'm going to try my hardest on it, so please, tell me what I should do better. I tried to take RainFlame's advice, but if I didn't, please tell me. I will try to update earlier next time.

-doodlemeow


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